On the Making of Sing Sing
Austin Film Festival's On Story
This week on On Story, AFF Senior Film Programer Andy Wolk sits down with writer-producer Clint Bentley and producer Monique Walton to deep-dive into the making of Sing Sing. Based on the real-life Rehabilitation through the Arts program at New York’s Sing Sing Maximum security prison, the powerful film follows a group of incarcerated men who find purpose and creativity through their prison theater troupe. The feature earned wide-spread critical acclaim, not only for the feature’s moving portrayal of change and exploration of human expression, but also for the cast’s inclusion of...
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A Conversation with Craig Mazin
Austin Film Festival's On Story
This week on On Story, a conversation with writer, director, producer and industry frontrunner, Craig Mazin. Mazin is perhaps best known for his Emmy award-winning historical Drama, Chernobyl. The HBO miniseries captivated audiences with its story of the aftermath of the 1986 disaster and earned Mazin the Emmy for Outstanding Writing on a Limited Series. Prior to his television work, Mazin gained recognition as a sharp comedy writer through features such as Scary Movie 3 and 4, Superhero Movie, The Hangover parts 2 and 3, and Identity Theif. The prolific writer is a...
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A Conversation with Kathleen Kennedy
Austin Film Festival's On Story
This week on On Story, a conversation with legendary producer, Katheleen Kennedy on her impressive producing career. Kennedy has produced or executive-produced more than 70 feature films, which have collectively garnered 120 Academy Award nominations and 25 wins. Among her credits include blockbusters and classics such as Jurassic Park, E.T. The Extra Terrestrial, The Sixth Sense, the Back to the Future trilogy, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, The Goonies, Poltergeist, Empire of the Sun, Schindler’s List, and The Color Purple….just to name a few! Not to mention, Kennedy has...
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On World Building with Damon Lindelof and Dan Erickson
Austin Film Festival's On Story
This week on On Story, AFF moderator Casey Baron speaks with leading TV writers Damon Lindelof and Dan Erickson on the art of world building. Damon Lindelof is a three-time Emmy Award-winning writer and producer, best known for creating and showrunning hit supernatural and science-fiction dramas such as ABC's Lost, the HBO series The Leftovers and Watchmen, as well as Peacock's limited series Mrs. Davis. Prior to showrunning, Lindelof wrote on the crime dramas Nash Bridges and Crossing Jordan. One of television's most prolific and pre-eminent writers, Lindelof has created some of TV's most...
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Film to TV Adaptations: A Conversation with Noah Hawley
Austin Film Festival's On Story
This week on On Story, a conversation with lauded TV writer, Noah Hawley, whose expansive writing career includes creating and showrunning the FX series Fargo and Legion. Fargo, the award-winning anthology series, is Hawley's adaptation of the 1996 film of the same name. Each season of the comedy-crime series follows murder investigations in various midwestern towns. Since the series debuted in 2014, the star-stacked cast has included Jon Hamm, Chris Rock, Jessie Buckley, Ben Wisham, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Ewan McGregor, Patrick Wilson, Jean Smart, and Kirsten Dunst, to name just a few. The...
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Watchmen, with Damon Lindelof and Cord Jefferson
Austin Film Festival's On Story
This week on On Story, AFF moderator Harrison Glaser speaks with Watchmen showrunner Damon Lindelof and writer Cord Jefferson about the collaborative process of adapting the beloved comic book and writing the series' Emmy Award-winning episode. Watchmen, a critically and commercially celebrated limited series, tells the story of racially motivated violence and vigilantism in the world of Alan Moore’s graphic novel by the same name. Damon Lindelof is a WGA, PGA, and Emmy award-winning writer who has created some of television’s most iconic shows,...
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A Conversation with So Young Shelly Yo
Austin Film Festival's On Story
This week on On Story, a conversation with the up and coming visionary, So Young Shelly Yo. Shelly is an award-winning filmmaker whose work has been supported by HBO, CAAM, SFFILM, the Sloan Foundation and others. Shelly's feature film, SMOKING TIGERS, was the winner of Tribeca x AT&T’s Untold Stories and was awarded best screenplay, best performance and a special mention for the Nora Ephron prize at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival. Prior to SMOKING TIGERS, Shelly wrote and directed many short films including SOFT SOUNDS OF PEELING FRUIT and MOONWALK WITH ME. She is currently in...
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Adapting Period Pieces, with Alison Eakle and Evan Romansky
Austin Film Festival's On Story
This week on On Story, we explore finding the source material for a period piece, making decisions about historical accuracy versus creative liberties, and successfully marrying a modern audience with a bygone era. AFF moderator Fabienne Harford speaks with Alison Eakle, Chief Content Officer at Shondaland and executive producer on Bridgerton, and Evan Romanksy, co-creator of Ratched about what it takes to research and create period pieces that maintain integrity and entertainment. Alison Eakle oversees all Netflix streaming content for Shondaland. She joined Shondaland in 2013, helping...
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Tales from Texas Film Offices, Presented by TXAFC
Austin Film Festival's On Story
This week on On Story, we’re joined by the film industry experts who connect Texas filmmakers with funding and resources including President of the Texas Association of Film Commissions, Drew Mayer-Oakes, Director of the Texas Film Commission, Stephanie Whallon, Director of the San Antonio Film Commission, Kimberly LeBlanc, and Director of the Houston Film Commission, Alfred Cervantes. The discussion of their professional histories and organizational goals shines a light on the many different ways these structured bodies provide support for Texas creators while simultaneously invigorating...
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A Conversation with Lee Eisenberg
Austin Film Festival's On Story
This week on On Story, a conversation with Lee Eisenberg about the launch of his comedy writing career. Eisenberg and his writing partner Gene Stupnitsky broke into the industry with their adventure-comedy screenplay, Year One, an irreverent retelling of the Book of Genesis in which they collaborated with the iconic comedian and filmmaker, Harold Ramis, who went onto direct the film for the Apatow Company. In tandem writing with Year One, Lee and Gene were staffed on season two of the notorious comedy television hit, The Office, where they wrote for five hilarious seasons. Masters of craft...
info_outlineThis week on On Story, we're joined by Lang Fisher for a conversation on her process of co-creating, writing, and showrunning Netflix’s hit series, Never Have I Ever. Fisher has a long history of writing and producing funny yet intelligent television, and Never Have I Ever is no exception. This fresh, coming-of-age series follows Indian-American teen, Davy Vishwakumar, who after a difficult year, is determined to heighten her social status at Sherman Oaks High Schools. Both co-created with and inspired by Mindy Kaling’s own childhood, the show's current three seasons are a remarkable masterclass on witty dialogue, a leader in diverse representation on screen, and adept at presenting relatable themes for teens and adults alike. The show's highly anticipated fourth and final season is scheduled to be released by Netflix on June 8th, 2023.
Prior to her work on Never Have I Ever, Fisher was a writer-producer for many comedy series, including Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Mindy Project, and the final season of 30 Rock, where she co-wrote the episode “A Goon’s Deed in a Weary World,” which was named one of Variety’s “25 Best TV Episodes of the Decade.” Before venturing into television writing, Fisher used her humor to write for six years at the satirical news outlet, The Onion.
AFF moderator Casey Baron sat down with Lang Fisher to dive deeper into the process of writing and creating Never Have I Ever and to give our audience a craft conversation. Never have you ever learned so much on the art of comedy writing!
Clips of Never Have I Ever courtesy of Netflix.